Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 223 Time to Get a New Phone, Trainer Disappearance Case (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Time passed slowly, and Mingyou was wide awake. She sat on the bed, staring at the mysterious blue link in the text message, quietly waiting for midnight to arrive.

Although I know in my heart that this kind of thing is similar to horoscope readings, which were popular for a while when the Internet was just emerging, sending paid text messages to read horoscopes, fooling the naive students at that time.

But in this day and age, playing with something so outdated, and then finding him, how could one not be curious? Besides, the Rotom phone is still flickering with a distorted screen.

Is it broken?

After all, it's an antique phone that's been used for so many years, so it's normal for it to have some malfunctions. I just happened to see the new Rotom phone endorsed by Qishu on the subway today, so maybe I should go and exchange it for one tomorrow?

As Mingyou thought to himself, before he knew it, it was already midnight. He roused himself.

Since it was said that one could see their destined person, he was curious whether he would see Xiao Zhao, although he thought it was impossible...

Just as he was looking at the Rotom screen on his phone with great interest, clicking on the link and anticipating what would happen next, the screen suddenly became completely distorted and no longer displayed any other images.

"You and him..."

Mingyou almost cursed. It wasn't a scam website, nor was it a fraudulent one; this thing was a virus!

Just as he was about to press and hold the power button to try to restart, the door to the room was suddenly pushed open gently, and Ralts cautiously peeked out and called softly to Mingyou.

"Ralu..."

"What's wrong?"

Mingyou looked up to respond, but the black shadow that slowly appeared on the phone screen suddenly disappeared along with the strange screen flickering. He subconsciously looked down and frowned slightly. What the hell was that?

He then looked at Ralts and whispered, "You've come at the right time. My Rotom phone seems to have a virus. After clicking this link, the screen has been distorted. I don't know what's wrong."

"Laru?"

Ralts trotted over, sat on the edge of the bed, and took Mingyou's phone, which had returned to normal. After the other party recounted what had just happened, it opened the text message, but strangely, the message had disappeared.

"Huh? How is this possible!"

Mingyou looked incredulous, so she quickly asked Ralts to help her look for it. Ralts had been learning from Xiaoyou for half a month and should have no problem dealing with this kind of thing. She also asked Ralts to check if anything was missing from her phone.

"Ralu~"

Ralts carefully examined him, feeling slightly nervous. Although Xiaoyou had taught him a lot about programming and networking, it had no practical experience whatsoever.

It took nearly ten minutes to gently shake its head, but it found no trace of the phone's Rotom being hacked, nor any indication of information being stolen; everything seemed perfectly normal.

"this……"

Mingyou felt very surprised. Could it be that what she just saw was all an illusion? Or was this "hacker" more skilled and erased all traces?

"I guess I should just get a new Rotom phone tomorrow. The old one's performance is just too bad..." He shook his head, then looked at Ralts and asked curiously, "But why did you suddenly come to see me? Aren't you resting at this hour?"

"Ralu~"

Ralts nervously handed over its phone, Rotom, which Mingyou had bought for it when it was learning from Xiaoyou. The phone case even had a cute Shiny Gardevoir design on it.

Mingyou reached out and took it. It was a website ticketing page, which used many illustrations of anime and game characters to attract attention. It was holding some kind of event, with tickets costing 98 yuan each. Pokémon tickets were free.

"A comic convention? I've lived all these years and I never even knew there was such a thing in Niangguang City. What a waste of my life... Is it this weekend? You want to go?"

"Ralu~"

"Alright then, since I just brought you guys here to have fun, let's all go together the day after tomorrow."

Mingyou responded with a smile.

After watching Ralts leave the room, he took a deep breath, smiled calmly, and then looked at his phone, Rotom, again.

After a moment of silence, I checked the message again and found that there was indeed no trace left. Maybe it was some hacker master playing a joke, or maybe Xiaoyou was secretly playing a prank on me?

After thinking about it for a while, he put the matter out of his mind and decided to rest first...

Silent all night.

The following morning, news of Mingyou's return had already spread throughout the neighborhood. Residents who knew him were happy for his current achievements, after all, they had watched him grow up.

After taking Ponpo and the others for a stroll around the neighborhood and continuing to recount her embarrassing past, Mingyou decided to go out and get a new Rotom phone.

Just as I arrived at the entrance of the residential area, I heard a familiar voice: "Hey? Isn't this Mingyou? Haven't seen you in a while, you've grown taller again."

Looking in the direction of the sound, Mingyou saw an old woman walking towards him with an Umbreon by her side and smiled as she replied, "After all, I'm still growing, Grandma. Are you taking a walk after breakfast?"

"Yes, after the nursery was handed over to the children, this is all the fun I have left every day."

The old woman smiled kindly and stepped forward. She used to run a nursery near the community, but now it's all taken care of by her children.

Upon noticing the Ralts next to Mingyou, she paused for a moment, then smiled again and said, "So you've become a trainer already. There are Pokémon eggs for adoption at the breeding center, including Eevee and Flamewaker eggs. You can go take a look if you'd like."

At this point, she shook her head and complained, "There are more and more irresponsible trainers these days. They don't have time to take care of their Pokémon, so they just spend money to leave them at the breeding center. Sometimes, even after a Pokémon egg is laid, they don't want it at all and just dump it on the breeding center to deal with."

"After all, the barrier to becoming a trainer is too low; anyone can become one," Mingyou sighed softly, then asked, "Are there many Pokémon eggs available for adoption?"

"Hmm... I think there are seven or eight?"

"There are quite a few. My manor in Kitakami Township is quite large, and many Pokémon live there. I usually take care of them. If no one adopts them in a few days, I can take them all with me."

"Hehe, you're really kind. Okay then. I saw your farm on TV. Lots of Pokémon live happily there. I'm sure you can take good care of them."

"Yes, of course!"

Mingyou responded earnestly, and then took the opportunity to ask the old lady some questions.

"By the way, has anything happened to Aunt Yun Que's family downstairs lately?"

"Well..."

The old woman shook her head with deep sympathy and replied, "Her child went to participate in a Pokémon event challenge in Bright City a month ago, but didn't come back one night and couldn't be contacted. Only the Pokémon is still there. The child's father has been looking for him everywhere, so he's not home."

"Missing?"

"Yes...and it's not just her kids, two other kids from the neighboring community have also gone missing. They used to play with you a lot when you were little, they were both students at Orange Academy."

"This...could it be!?"

Mingyou suddenly remembered the Tibetan Mastiff godfather she met on the street yesterday afternoon who was handing out flyers. The flyers were about the disappearance of trainers. Could it be that he was involved in the case?

He immediately pressed for details.

The old woman shook her head and replied, "I'm not too sure about that. I hope all the children are safe and sound and can go home soon."

"Hmm..."

So pitiful...

Ponpon also felt sympathy for this.

Mingyou remained silent for a long time, then sighed helplessly, realizing that he couldn't solve either of the two things he wanted to help with.

He then asked the old woman about the Dream Demon, but unfortunately she didn't know much about it either, as there had been no news of the Dream Demon since it left a few months ago.

Mingyou sighed again, chatted with the old woman for a few minutes, and then left with Ponpon and the others.

On the subway ride to the city center, Ponpo and the others were very curious about the dream demons that had appeared in their conversation with the old lady, so Mingyou told them about the dream demons...

"Mmm!"

We absolutely have to find it!

Ponpo was a little anxious. Luckily, it finally found its way home after a long struggle, but all the family members it had lived with for so many years had disappeared. It could completely understand that kind of sadness.

"Waaah!"

Latias pouted, "If you can't find it, I'm not going to talk to you anymore, you idiot, Naruto!"

Seeing everyone's anxiety and worry, Mingyou nodded gently, stroked their heads, and replied firmly, "I will find it! And then bring it home!"

"Mmm~"

Let's all help!

Even though there are no clues at the moment, Ponpo has no intention of giving up. She absolutely cannot let the Dream Demon continue to wander outside!

"Okay, after we get back from the city center, I'll look for clues about the Misdreavus in the neighborhood!"

A moment later, the subway arrived at the city center station. Mingyou, holding Ponpo's hand, walked through the crowd. Just as they were about to exit the subway station, she seemed to sense a familiar gaze and subconsciously turned her head to look.

All he could see was a bustling crowd, with a constant stream of noise. Even with his strong mental power, he still couldn't figure out where the gaze had come from in such an environment.

Or perhaps it's just my imagination?

Even with these thoughts in mind, Mingyou still glanced around again until Pengpeng gently tugged at his clothes, bringing him back to his senses. He then turned and left the subway station, leading everyone to go shopping.

But after he left, a ghost-like figure slowly emerged from behind a load-bearing pillar of a subway station in the distance.

It seemed to be wearing a feathered crown and necklace on its head, with red thorns on the top and back of its head, and its dark green hair swaying leisurely like dragon wings.

Its scarlet eyes, like those of a fierce wild beast, were now fixed on the direction Mingyou had left, and slowly shifted, landing on the petite Ponpo.

"..."

……

(End of this chapter)